What age should people gain the right to die?

[Unwr!tten]

I personally think 25, because that isn't just an age of majority based on country but is a time in every humans life when their brain is fully developed.

 

[FuneralCry]

From birth obviously. The right to die is the most basic human right that is a consequence of life being so unnecessarily forced into this world, to deny a right to die would mean that existence is both slavery and imprisonment, it's extreme cruelty to want to trap someone here against their wishes, in fact it's inhumane to wish to force people to suffer with no way to escape. The fact that humans wish to put age limits on the right to die is truly repulsive and just shows the lack of compassion that this species has.

And it's completely absurd when people suggest that continuing to exist is the more desirable, rational option when in fact the wish to exist is what is completely irrational and is centred around delusions. Suicide will always seem like the most logical thing to wish for to me as I have awareness that existence is nothing more than an unnecessary harm where all that is inevitable is even more suffering, loss and decay with unlimited potential to feel pain and to be tormented.

Life is only an unfortunate, tragic consequence of evolution in the first place, and just because some people were selfish enough to procreate doesn't mean that anyone should have to continue to delay the inevitable against their wishes, just because some people are so in denial of the reality of existing and hold pro-suffering beliefs shouldn't mean that other people should have to suffer because of it.

Nobody else can experience existence in the same way as other people anyway, and both being tormented by existing and having awareness that existing is completely futile and worthless isn't limited to those who are old, any human being can experience extreme suffering so the right to die should never have an age limit, I think that people should just focus on their own existences, if they want to exist then that is fine for them but they shouldn't have any right to force this view onto other people, not everyone wants to suffer and risk experiencing even worse suffering at any moment. Putting age limits on the right to die is insulting and insensitive, suicide should always be a personal choice. Not existing always has done and always will do feel like the most appealing option for me.

 

[Unwr!tten]

So you think a four year should be allowed to kill themselves?

 

[Kittzuni]

While I can't point out the "right" age I generally do agree with OP that it's probably somewhere in your (early?) 20s. Therefore, 25 sounds pretty reasonable. No matter how miserable you are in life, as OP said, your brain isn't fully developed until that age which objectively speaking makes it a good overall indicator. You should never base rules on exceptions, you should however try to base it on stats, facts and majority.

Life changes a lot, especially after you finish school, move out and get a job. In my opinion you should have at least tried "adulting" for a bit before quitting (or even starting) it.

You should definitely be able to "enlist" before you reach that age though. So that it can be over quick if you want to still do it by then. It would give younger people time to think about it.

 

[Tuurngait]

I suppose if you're talking of euthanasia, I'd say 18. Although, I do see the benefit of restricting it until a person's 20s. Personally though, I place autonomy of an individual as the most important principle to follow; I think restricting it to a higher age than 18 breaks this. Sad reality is that for things like euthanasia to fruition everywhere, there needs to be status-based limits such as a solid age to follow. I get quite annoyed seeing different age limits for different things (like in the UK, you can have sex at 16 with a 40 year old, but cannot 'legally' watch porn (obviously you still can, but legally you should not be)). I really do think a universal age of autonomy should be a solid 18.
I do agree entirely that placing it below 18 seems very dystopian.

 

[Unwr!tten]

While I can't point out the "right" age I generally do agree with OP that it's probably somewhere in your (early?) 20s. Therefore, 25 sounds pretty reasonable. No matter how miserable you are in life, as OP said, your brain isn't fully developed until that age which objectively speaking makes it a good overall indicator. You should never base rules on exceptions, you should however try to base it on stats, facts and majority.

Life changes a lot, especially after you finish school, move out and get a job. In my opinion you should have at least tried "adulting" for a bit before quitting (or even starting) it.

You should definitely be able to "enlist" before you reach that age though. So that it can be over quick if you want to still do it by then. It would give younger people time to think about it.

I wholly agree.

I Do Not nor will I Ever agree with FuneralCry on the topic of antinatalism. I think it's frankly a narrow minded viewpoint.

Yes, there is suffering in the world but that's because the people in charge are too lazy to help those who need it, but NOT everything in the world is bad and not EVERYONE is suffering. Yes, I'm very suicidal and I struggle every single day, but I certainly don't regret being born and the fact that there are people out there who say I shouldn't have been is frankly rather offensive and harmful to our cause.

If Children can decide things for themselves, then why not lower the age of consent? If little kids can choose to die, should they be able to choose when to have sex? to be tattoos? Should we send small children to work?

No, because children cannot make rational and logical decisions for themselves.

I suppose if you're talking of euthanasia, I'd say 18. Although, I do see the benefit of restricting it until a person's 20s. Personally though, I place autonomy of an individual as the most important principle to follow; I think restricting it to a higher age than 18 breaks this. Sad reality is that for things like euthanasia to fruition everywhere, there needs to be status-based limits such as a solid age to follow. I get quite annoyed seeing different age limits for different things (like in the UK, you can have sex at 16 with a 40 year old, but cannot 'legally' watch porn (obviously you still can, but legally you should not be)). I really do think a universal age of autonomy should be a solid 18.
I do agree entirely that placing it below 18 seems very dystopian.

My only issue with this is that 18 is not a solid, logical number because all it is is when the government deems us adults and this changes country to country. The truth is that 18 year olds are still just teenagers we force to be and act older and more mature than they are.

 

[MelancholyMagic]

If little kids can choose to die, should they be able to choose when to have sex? to be tattoos? Should we send small children to work?

You can regret tattoos and have harmed development from work. You can't regret death, and development no longer matters once dead.

 

[Unwr!tten]

You can regret tattoos and have harmed development from work. You can't regret death, and development no longer matters once dead.

That still doesn't change my point.
Little kids cannot make these decisions for themselves.
Even SaSu agrees and that's why Minors aren't allowed here.

 

[Tuurngait]

My only issue with this is that 18 is not a solid, logical number because all it is is when the government deems us adulta and this changes country to country. The truth is that 18 year olds are still just teenagers we force to be and ac5 older and more mature than they are.

(I agree with the other bit of the message personally, but do not have anything to really add).

I do agree that 18 is a weird number to choose, my point really is more that we need a universal number for these things. Without that, the goalpost can simply keep moving. For children for example (again in the UK), there is a doctrine of "Gillick Competence." Basically, this says that children can decide to refuse treatment as long as they display certain attributes, like a level of intelligence and understanding etc. The problem with this is that the level of intelligence etc. is subjective. One person may see it as not sufficient, whilst another may see it as sufficient. It creates too many issues versus the status-based age limit.

If I had to set an age of majority myself I'd probably go with 21, but I think most would prefer 18 even still. To be fair, 18 is at least when you have full free-rein of the world and can essentially do whatever you want independently (bar a few things in places like America).

 

[MelancholyMagic]

Even SaSu agrees and that's why Minors aren't allowed here.

Minors aren't allowed here because it's a legal headache. Which is why the policy was changed to allow only 18+ after the former site owners consulted with a lawyer.

 

[Unwr!tten]

(I agree with the other bit of the message personally, but do not have anything to really add).

I do agree that 18 is a weird number to choose, my point really is more that we need a universal number for these things. Without that, the goalpost can simply keep moving. For children for example (again in the UK), there is a doctrine of "Gillick Competence." Basically, this says that children can decide to refuse treatment as long as they display certain attributes, like a level of intelligence and understanding etc. The problem with this is that the level of intelligence etc. is subjective. One person may see it as not sufficient, whilst another may see it as sufficient. It creates too many issues versus the status-based age limit.

If I had to set an age of majority myself I'd probably go with 21, but I think most would prefer 18 even still. To be fair, 18 is at least when you have full free-rein of the world and can essentially do whatever you want independently (bar a few things in places like America).

I Can agree 21 would be fairly reasonable.
Maybe there's a few tests and requirements they'd have to go through logically so they could apply at 21 and logically it would probably take a year+ to get approved and someone could during that time choose to change their mind.

Minors aren't allowed here because it's a legal headache. Which is why the policy was changed to allow only 18+ after the former site owners consulted with a lawyer.

These attitudes are why this site has the reputation it does. :(

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'd say 18. May be a little young still- but- considering you can legally do most stuff by then- including bringing life into this world- 18 seems reasonable to me. When you're refering to the 'right to die', I'm assuming you mean assisted suicide? In which case- I would be in favour of an assesment process- regardless of age to ensure people weren't making impulsive decisions- and to at least OFFER them support- although, I don't think the offer of assisted dieing should depend of accepting that treatment. So long as they have mental capacity- they ought to have the right to choose. Like many people here- I would be in favour of a six month waiting period.

 

[Unwr!tten]

I'd say 18. May be a little young still- but- considering you can legally do most stuff by then- including bringing life into this world- 18 seems reasonable to me. When you're refering to the 'right to die', I'm assuming you mean assisted suicide? In which case- I would be in favour of an assesment process- regardless of age to ensure people weren't making impulsive decisions- and to at least OFFER them support- although, I don't think the offer of assisted dieing should depend of accepting that treatment. So long as they have mental capacity- they ought to have the right to choose. Like many people here- I would be in favour of a six month waiting period.

Yes, I'm referring to assisted suicide and I can definitely see that. I personally don't like 18, ONLY because the age of majority varies country to country and I've never met a fully functional, fully mature 18 year old. I think that all the things they can do, they shouldn't even be allowed to, but that's just me.

I think 18-21 should be a transitional period, where we have like "Minor adults" who are slowly introduced into the world of adulting.

The youngest I can personally see someone being allowed to apply for euthanasia is 21, then there's like a series of tests that take around year+ in which time, the applicant can back out or put their plans on hold.

 

[Jallu55]

Well the knowledge of there being euthanasia available at age 18 or 21 or whatever would have helped me and probably many other suicidal teens cope and prevented some stupid ctb attempts from happening but I don't really know if I would set an age limit in stone for that myself.

I think I am quite sympathetic overall to empowering young people on many things since for me it feels like my "last" chance to "recover" was pretty much thrown into thrash can by shitty bureaucrats literally because I was a 17 year old minor back then.

 

[Unwr!tten]

Yeah, and that's another thing, we can't really have a meaningful conversation about this unless we also discuss the need for mental illness awareness and the need to overhaul mental Health Services Worldwide.

 

[Kittzuni]

As I said, rules shouldn't be created based on exceptions.

First, it would be important to implement the thing as a whole with a reasonable age limit, after that you can start thinking about certain exceptions like giving "the right to die" to people of a younger age (still above 19 imo though) if they meet certain requirements. Like.. idk having applied for it continuously once a year for x years or writing a statement on your reasons of wanting to die (I know the latter would be hard to judge but that's also what this forum does when you register, cause it makes sense to filter out the people that "don't really mean it").

On that note, you can also see these exceptions with other regulations like the right to have sex or the right to get tattoos/piercings. You are allowed to get tattoos/piercings with a parents signature and their presence at an earlier age than the legal limit. Under the Romeo and Juliette clause you (as a young teenager) are only allowed to have sex with someone older than you if said person is still within a certain age rage of you. Obiously these exceptions have flaws and you can disobey them, but they are present for a reason. They make sense. They function as a filter or safety net for others. Same concept applies to this topic imo as no one can stop you from committing suicide at any age. Does that mean you should be given the right to die at any age? In my opinion, no. Society and humans suck but you also benefit from them which is why you have to obey certain rules to some extent. Could you survive alone on a deserted island? What about all crimes being legal? While I do not want to live anymore, I certainly would appreciate being able to go out on my own terms peacefully instead of being raped and beaten to death because some dude across the street thinks he's able to overpower me in a fight and "hey it's legal so why not". Society provides that "security" for me, so while I hate it, I'm still somewhat grateful. Could it be better? Yeah of course, but you can't demand changes like that with no good logic or reasonsing behind it.

The only somewhat reasonable argument I've read in this thread so far is Melancholy's. But his argument is also very flawed. Sure you personally in that moment can't regret death (anymore), but you might have if you would have held out just a little longer. Other than that other people around you will be affected. If not your loved ones (in case you don't have any), at the very least it affects your executioners. The people that provided said right for you.

By outright demanding the right to die to be given to babys, kids or teenagers you create an entirely different set of problems and potentially cause a lot more harm. People could start groomimg/gaslighting/bullying others into it. It's also heart wrenching for parents to see their kids comit suicide, even more so when they do it while being under their supervision, even if said parents are a major factor for the kids pain to begin with. Emotions are a complex thing. Apart from that think about the legal aspect (e.g. child neglect).

I know how it is to feel "mature" for your age. I know how it feels to have to "grow up quickly". I thought I knew everything I needed to then but I didn't.

 

[Jezzibell]

It should be an inailiable right

 

[Kittzuni]

It should be an inailiable right

that's something I wholeheartedly agree with but it doesn't really answer the question, does it? OP asked for an age.

 

[Jezzibell]

that's something I wholeheartedly agree with but it doesn't really answer the question, does it? OP asked for an age.

It implies from birth. Like your inaliable right to freedom of speech. That doesn't only start from a set age

 

[looking_for_peace]

I personally think 25, because that isn't just an age of majority based on country but is a time in every humans life when their brain is fully developed.

no one, despite their age, should be forced to stay alive imo. there are prepubescent children who have experienced more trauma than adults. I will say though, no matter what the age is, I don't think anyone should ctb impulsively, and I think children are more likely to ctb impulsively.

 

[Kittzuni]

It implies from birth. Like your inaliable right to freedom of speech. That doesn't only start from a set age

The word has a different definition in my language I guess since I'm not american. As far as Im concerned it "just" means that's it's a right that can't be taken away from you.

 

[Darkover]

whatever age you can join the army, if you can go to war to die you should be legally allowed to kill your self

 

[Kittzuni]

no one, despite their age, should be forced to stay alive imo. there are prepubescent children who have experienced more trauma than adults. I will say though, no matter what the age is, I don't think anyone should ctb impulsively, and I think children are more likely to ctb impulsively.

How would you go about sorting out which ones are impulsive and which aren't? Age is somewhat of a fitting general factor (not the best though) as it implies that the individual has thought about it for a certain amount of time due.

I also think either OP worded the question bad or I understood it wrong, probably the latter looking at the responses again.

Everyone should infact have the right to die from birth, but it's an entirely different subject if you're talking about when you are given the right to access assisted suicide which is how I understood the question. I'm an overthinker, my bad.

 

[Linda]

When they are legally adult in their own country, which in most places is 18 or thereabouts. Being legally adult means that you are considered capable of acting independently, and deciding things for yourself.

 

[Dayrain]

@Unwr!tten You can not "gain" a fundamental right.

 

[Rabbit-]

I'd say 21 but with possible exceptions for those 16-or-older via assessment. I want to say 18 with exceptions, but as others mentioned, a lot can change when you reach adulthood. Exceptions feel very necessary for me; People can have gone through some truly horrific things at young ages, or otherwise may want to ctb for a very long time, and I think it's important to try and minimize their suffering and respect those feelings. But I also think it's important to give people the chance to develop the critical-thinking and coping skills to avoid impulsive decisions, especially since the brain takes a while to physically develop.

As someone who's wanted to ctb since before I was a teenager and has otherwise been deeply miserable since birth, I understand to some extent wanting to have the option to end things as soon as possible. To this day I desperately wish that I'd been stillborn, or that I'd have died when I was young. And as the existence of this site shows, becoming an adult won't always help- Things may even get worse.

Still, I really agree with the first part of this:

Well the knowledge of there being euthanasia available at age 18 or 21 or whatever would have helped me and probably many other suicidal teens cope and prevented some stupid ctb attempts from happening but I don't really know if I would set an age limit in stone for that myself.

Thinking from my younger self's perspective, it would've been comforting even just knowing there was an end in sight rather than what my situation has been, which is an agonizing lifetime wondering when or if this will ever end. It won't erase the suffering that people have already experienced, of course, but I think having the certainty of a peaceful death on their terms, even if not immediate, would be enough of a relief for many people.

 

[Darkover]

How would you go about sorting out which ones are impulsive and which aren't?

it's simple you have to give notice that you would like to be euthanizes and after 6 months then you can be euthanizes

 

[OceanBlue]

When they reach the age of consent, usually 18. Age should be lowered for those with unbearable suffering.
In exceptional circumstances it is also needed in ages under 12:

"That included, for example, children with untreatable brain tumours who developed relentless vomiting, screaming, and seizures in their dying phase. Or children with epilepsy resistant to all treatment with tens to hundreds of seizures a day."

I personally think 25, because that isn't just an age of majority based on country but is a time in every humans life when their brain is fully developed.

The Myth of the 25-Year-Old Brain

"All this means that people's brains can look very different from one another at 25. If we're leaving it up to neuroscience to define maturity, the answer is clear as mud."

In my own experience- I still suffer the same as I did when I was 16, just have less hope. And most people don't become more aware as they grow older.

 

[macrocosm]

I personally think 25, because that isn't just an age of majority based on country but is a time in every humans life when their brain is fully developed.

Legally I think 18 is when you become an adult. 25 is a good point too though. Gives time to try different options and then no excuses when the time comes

 

[Odahviing475]

I think the brain stops fully developing at 25. So maybe then? That being said, I'm not there yet and I have wanted to ctb many times.